The YouTube Kids app has been suggesting a load of conspiracy videos to children

Children were able to watch David Icke's conspiracy videos through YouTube Kids.Flickr/Tyler Merbler

The YouTube Kids app is meant to filter out unsuitable
content, but we found that it suggested that children watch
conspiracy theory videos.

The app suggested several videos from prominent
conspiracy theorist David Icke in which he claimed that the
world is ruled by reptile-human hybrids.

Searches for "moon landing" returned results including
three videos which claim the moon landing was a hoax.

YouTube removed at least 25 videos from its Kids app
after we contacted the company and blocked Icke's channel on
the app.

YouTube's app specifically for children is meant to filter out
adult content and provide a "world of learning and fun," but
Business Insider found that YouTube Kids featured many conspiracy
theory videos which make claims that the world is flat, that the
moon landing was faked, and that the planet is ruled by
reptile-human hybrids.

YouTube Kids is a separate app from the main YouTube app, and
it's meant to allow parents to let their children browse YouTube
without being worried about any unsuitable content appearing.
Children are
encouraged to learn languages,
read books, and watch educational videos.

Search for "UFO" on YouTube Kids and you'll mostly find videos of
toys that are clearly fine for children to watch. But one of the
top videos claimed to show a UFO shooting at a chemtrail, and we
found several videos by prominent conspiracy theorist David Icke
in the suggested videos. YouTube removed the videos from YouTube
Kids after we contacted it about the issue.

One suggested video was an hours-long
lecture by Icke in which he claims that aliens built the
pyramids, that the planet is run by reptile-human hybrids, that
Freemasons engage in human sacrifice, that the assassination of
President Kennedy was planned by the US government, and that
humans would evolve in 2012.

Two other conspiracy theory videos by Icke appeared in the
related videos, meaning it was easy for children to quickly go
from watching relatively innocent videos about toys to conspiracy
content.

YouTube said in a statement to Business Insider that "sometimes
we miss the mark" on content appearing on YouTube Kids and said
it would "continue to work to improve the YouTube Kids app
experience."

Here's the full statement from YouTube:

"The YouTube Kids app is home to a wide variety of content that
includes enriching and entertaining videos for families. This
content is screened using human trained systems. That being said,
no system is perfect and sometimes we miss the mark. When we do,
we take immediate action to block the videos or, as necessary,
channels from appearing in the app. We will continue to work to
improve the YouTube Kids app experience."

YouTube Kids is meant to block unsuitable content

The YouTube Kids app blocks searches for most unsuitable videos.
Search "9/11" or "porn" and you find no results. But we found
that buried in the app's suggested videos were conspiracy videos
that children could stumble on.

YouTube Kids

Conspiracy theory videos appear in search results

If you searched for "moon landing" on YouTube Kids, three videos
appeared that claim that the moon landing was hoaxed. All three
videos have since been hidden by YouTube after we informed it of
the issue.

Through YouTube Kids' suggested videos feature, we also found
videos from conspiracy theorists Ben Davidson, Gerald Pollack,
and Wallace Thornhill. YouTube removed the specific videos that
we sent it, but many other videos by the conspiracy theorists
remain in the app.

YouTube Kids

Conspiracy videos also appear when children search for popular
conspiracy theories. Searches for "chemtrails," "flat earth," and
"nibiru" are all allowed in the app. However, it's (hopefully)
unlikely that children are regularly watching these videos unless
they appear as suggestions on more popular content in the app.

The conspiracy videos didn't just appear in searches or suggested
videos, either. After watching several conspiracy videos, the top
recommended video on the home page of YouTube Kids was a
conspiracy theory about aliens on the moon:

YouTube Kids

This issue with the YouTube Kids app shows the problem with
YouTube's suggested videos algorithm. The suggested videos try to
convince you to watch related content after your current video
ends.

That's fine when it's adults watching the main YouTube site, but
children on YouTube Kids can easily go from innocent content
about the moon landing to Icke claiming lizard people rule the
world.

YouTube Kids criticised for featuring inappropriate videos

This isn't the first time that YouTube Kids was found to feature
videos that weren't suitable for children. In 2017, the app was
criticised in
a lengthy Medium post by author James Bridle after he found
disturbing videos targeted at children.

"Someone or something or some combination of people and things is
using YouTube to systematically frighten, traumatise, and abuse
children, automatically and at scale," Bridle wrote.

YouTube is fighting against fake news and conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theorists are allowed to publish videos on YouTube,
but the company doesn't want people to be mislead by what they
publish. So it's going to add some text from Wikipedia explaining
that the world is in fact round.

It's part of an ongoing campaign by YouTube to stop misleading
videos. Recently, a video accusing Parkland school shooting
survivor David Hogg of being an actor was
featured prominently on YouTube. YouTube featured a false
video about Hogg at the top of its trending chart, but later
removed it.